The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History

Gormley (president, Duquesne Univ., PA; The Death of American Virtue) has assembled a first-rate group of scholars of the American presidency to make sense of what he refers to as "an unfinished presidency." This chronicle of U.S. leaders from George Washington to Barack Obama reminds readers that we often have an imperfect vision when it comes to comprehending the principles, powers, possibilities, and perils involved in serving as commander in chief. Each president has helped to shape and in turn has been shaped by this distinct, somewhat ill-defined office; in particular, each has helped define constitutional policy, for better or worse; examples given include Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Great Depression and World War II, and Richard Nixon and Watergate. In the end, the contributors argue that the relationship between the presidency and the Constitution is uneven, demonstrating the glory and gore of political constitutional development.